Hero
by riotousorder
Summary: Shouto stopped talking after he came back from the hospital with layers of white gauzes over his eyes. Izuku stopped dreaming to become a hero when the doctor told him he was quirkless and in no condition to pursuit even a normal career in the future. They are broken children. In a world overflowing with heroes, there are none coming to their aid. So they have to help themselves.


Izuku considers himself familiar with every frequenter of this little park in the time frame of two and a half hours after school lets out.

There is always a group of four high school girls hogging the swing set for half an hour, chatting idly before bidding each other goodbye. Two boys, probably a year or so older than Izuku, do amazing acrobatic tricks with monkey bars. An old man and his two grandchildren fill the playground with laughter as they go round and round on the merry-go-round. Izuku himself always take the dolphin spring rider near the entrance, rocking the thing sideways while making miscellaneous note.

Those are the people that are always at the park around the time he's there. He never talks to them but somehow being at the park at the same time with the same people after some time makes him feel like he belongs to some secret organisation. So, he makes it a mission to remember their most prominent features, their quirk. The two kids are twin with quirk-physics on one side of their body, while the other side is very much normal. Izuku wonders if they can do the Fusion Dance. Bat-like ears, slit pupils and webbed hands. The ears must come from their gramps, who is rocking the whole hybrid bat-man appearance. He must have been one heck of a hero when he was in his prime. The boys hanging upside down on the monkey bars, one has spring for legs and the other can stretch his arms for as long as he is tall. There have been mishaps involving quirks and monkey bars and they are a lot of fun to look at though Izuku gets second hand pain just by looking at them. The girls are all chatterbox. The short haired has an electric-based quirk that makes her hair stand up on all side when she laughs uncontrollably. The brown haired with coffee coloured skin can cry tears of coffee beans. Izuku has to stop himself from running over to gush over the fallen beans. The last two girls are obviously a couple judging by their intertwined hands and the adoring looks they send each other ways that garners good-natured sighs from their friends. Their quirk complement each other nicely as well, one emits thick black smoke every time she sneezes and the other blows them away with a single breath. A perfect combo for hit-and-run operations.

All in all, he likes being here at this timeframe with all those people.

Sometimes a group of kindergarten kids come and add to the general noise level of the playground. He always beats a hasty retreat from his favoured spot to escape the hurly-burly whenever they come. It's not that he dislikes children, it's just that the hustle of school is enough for a day and he really doesn't have the patience to deal with anymore drama. Luckily, the children always leave soon after. The ones that kick up a fuss are warned about an imaginary wicked villain in the neighbourhood. That always does the trick, and the playground lapses back into the quietude with background noise Izuku can tune out with ease.

Everyone trickles home as the sun goes down until he is the only one left in the park. He stays until the lights are on before gathering his things and heading home. He wants to stay longer but he doesn't want to make his mom worry herself into a panic attack. Besides, with how bad his vision is getting, walking around after dark is not advisable.

* * *

So of course, he notices the two new additions to the park.

They appear 30 minutes before his usual leaving but long after everyone else has left.

A boy and a girl.

Sister and younger brother.

Maybe university freshman. Izuku's age, probably a few months older.

White hair with red streaks. Half white half red hair.

Fascinating.

The sister points out the cherry blossom tree to her brother. He gives no observable response but she is already leading him towards it and sit him down while she arranges her skirt and sits down as well.

And then she starts talking. They are too far away for Izuku to make out anything but it seems like she is carrying the conversation all by herself. Her brother has his eyes towards the ground, where he is twirling either blades of grass or the shoelaces.

Izuku thinks it's odd and off-putting but the sister seems to be even more animated, with how fast her hands flies and how open her expression becomes.

He turns back to back to his sketch and stops thinking about them.

(In truth, even when he's not actively thinking about them, his curiosity is materialising itself on his notes, hypothesis of what the newcomers' quirks might be.)

Later when he starts packing, the other two also stand up and leave through the way they came.

They don't show up the day after or the day after that so Izuku thinks they are just passers-by happened to come across this little secluded park.

* * *

On that account, he is quite surprised when they show up again three days later, on a Friday, taking the exact same spot the did on Tuesday and the sister talking the time away.

The same thing happens next Tuesday and again on Friday

Every Tuesday and Friday, like clockwork.

Izuku can't remember the exact moment when he starts thinking about them as members of his own secret organisation of the park frequenters.

* * *

 ** _AN: Guide to study for exam. Ditch your notes and write fanfic instead (with coffee within reach)_**


End file.
